So Long

A month plus after the post on Christmas dinner plans, my beloved grandma passed away. 2 days after my birthday. So obviously, the dinner never happened, because it was around that time she fell ill, hospitalized, got better, discharged, then her condition just suddenly spiraled downwards, she couldn’t eat, couldn’t walk, couldn’t sleep, and then she bade farewell…


It was tough for all of us. Outwardly we say consoling things like oh, it’s for the better, she’s been suffering, now she need not go through all these pain anymore, she’s in heaven, she’s free now blah blah. But deep down, who could ever see your loved ones go?

I kept putting off updating this space, because I just can’t bring myself to write about the loss of my grandma – the person who took care and raised me since I was a wee newborn while my parents worked so hard to make sure there’s food on the table for all of us. She’s the most selfless, dedicated, and hardworking person I’ve ever met. She’d rather go hungry than seeing others without food. That’s her way of loving us – by making sure we get the best food, best shelter, best care. OK except that time when she put butter in her coffee while a chubby me looked on in wide eyed wonder hoping I’d get a taste and then she said “not for you. Too fattening.” /glass shatters/ T_T

Haiks. She’s the one who tucked us in at night and nursed us back to health when we were sick. Tell us stories about her birthplace in Jamaica and the adventure migrating to Malaysia, and how she survived the 日本时代 – the days under Japanese’ ruling – as she’d called it. She’s also the one who’d chase us around the house with a rotan with her booming hakka lady voice threatening to wallop us because we poured talcum powder all over the floor in the guest room and glided around bare footed, thus making a mess, while we hid behind the sofa giggling away seeing her panting for breath. Hah, good old days. The days when she was still strong and healthy and mighty, and loud! She was this… super grandma!

Eh, seriously, I can’t believe it! It’s been more than 3 months now and I still cannot write this without crying myself a river like a fool! T_T

Ah well, she’s gone now. For good. For real. Forever. No tears can ever bring her back.

Ah Nei, I thank God for sending you to me… or, me to you. You have been such a blessing to all of us at home. Our Kelana Inn will never be the same without you there now, but we will learn to move on bravely – just as how you have bravely embraced all the challenges that came your way in your entire life without grumbling and how willingly you dedicated your life to us, giving us the best you can ever summoned. Thank you. I will definitely see you again when my time’s up too, in heaven. For now, rest by Him and bask in His Glory! I love you so much!!!



Your love has brought up 3 generations, and counting! RIP now, Ah Nei.



And It's Up!

Finally got the tree up – our first ever (and I’m so proud of my effort! Jason K you owe me big time!)! With Frappy’s arrival, we are living more like family people now, what with setting up a Christmas tree and planning for a Christmas meal! Haha!

I’m outlining the menu now. There are so many cool recipes out there and I just wish to try them all! I’m thinking an appetizer of pita with pesto/olive oil and cheese dips; vegetarian minestrone soup (for my parents are vegetarians); baked chicken with root veges; a stew maybe? Oh, and cheddar and chives cupcake! But I’m still short on vegetarian dishes… hmm, a stir fry garlic butter abalone mushrooms? Oh I know! A pesto pasta! That’ll fill an Asian stomach I reckon! Awesome!

On the 23rd and 24th, we’ll be in church for a Christmas Musical Production – a proud in-house effort by all my talented and awesomepossumsupercoolio friends – join us! You won’t regret it ;) Plus, you get to laugh at support Jason because he’ll be acting!

So how are you celebrating your Christmas? A couple of years back, a friend made me a card that says “This Christmas, let us not only remember that ‘Christmas isn’t Christmas till it happens in your heart’, but also, ‘till it happens in your life’.”

It finally hit me now… Gift-exchanges, lavish feasts, and all the merriment don’t even come close to the real meaning of Christmas. It’s about the greatest Gift of all times – given with complete Love, and paid by Blood. If you receive it with an open heart, this Gift is eternal.

The Gift of Jesus, have you receive Him into your heart today? :)

Halloween Came Late For Me

My worst nightmare (ok, ONE of my worst nightmares) finally happened on Sunday.


Frappy fell from the bed. And a pretty high bed at that T__T

The thing is, she was sleeping on my parents’ bed when I checked on her, and then 5 minutes later, there was a loud bang, followed by loud wailing. I’m telling you, when you become a parent, you will understand how that feels. That surreal, heart-stops-beating, complete horror, I’m-dying-right-now feeling. Actually, you know what, there’s just no word can ever describe that moment! I just dieded 100 million times. T___T


I fell hard you know! But I'm a brave girl!



My guess is, she woke up because she pooped, and then she attempted her 360 degrees turn, only it wasn’t that successful this time, she only managed 180 degrees, reached the edge of the bed, slipped, and fell, free style. Onto her tummy. In a room permeated with the smell of poo. T___________T

But my Frappy is a strong and mighty baby of God! She just cried very kesianly for a minute or two, and then she started smiling and playing with me as if nothing happened (with tears in her eyes can you imagine that pitiful face?! T___T). But I’m still paranoid!!!!!!!!! What if she sustained a concussion or whatever you call it! I pressed and rubbed every inch of her skin trying to see if there’s any internal injury that will make her cry. No such thing. She’s as happy as happy can ever be. BUT I’M STILL PARANOID!!!!!! T______________T

Oh but there is one difference I noticed. She’s more smiley than before. After the fall, she was smiling whenever anyone smiled to her, it’s as if her smiles are free (it wasn’t before)! Am I paranoid? Yes I think I'm paranoid! Is it wrong to be paranoid? I'm a mother! Mothers should be paranoid right? What if that's an after-fall effect?! It's that good? Or bad? And I'm blabbering to myself now right? Yes you are, Leishia. And you are calling yourself by name. Great. Kill me now please. =___='''

Jason says looks like she needs more falling from now on to get her to smile more. -_- Don’t you just love his post-incident humour when he was the one who went all berserk asking me how I can LET her fall? Zzzz. Yay for dads.  

My Pocky Moment

So good, even babies want 'em!

Butterfly Kisses' Playing On My Radio T_T

In a bid to eat healthfully and properly, I’ve started to add one or two super ingredients into our food to boost our diet, well as much as I can lah. I must admit I’m totally not a housewife material, one who cleans, scrubs, sweeps, mops, babysits, tidies, AND COOKS EVERYDAY FOR EVERY MEAL. Urgh. I won't go about putting up a front trying to be a supermom cum wife.
But I digressed. -.-

So anyway, seeing how Frappy is growing and how I’ve started her on cereal, we need to set good eating habits and examples for her, not to mention save a ton from eating out. So I’ve make it a point now to visit the market more (bleurgh!) and try preparing healthier food.

Last night I made Sesame Ginger Chicken, which was a little bit of a failure, because the minute Frappy cried, I over fried my ginger. Zzz. Not to toot my own horn, but it was still nice (there's no way you can fail this dish seriously!), albeit the bitter-ish taste. Gotta remake this dish! Humph!

And this afternoon for lunch, I made a Chicken & Avacodo Avocado Sandwich, using Ramly chicken patty (Hehe! I know! Not very healthy to begin with! But I don’t have chicken breasts hokay!), avocado, cheese, and drizzled with chilli sauce! It’s actually quite yum. Haha! The fact that I’ve packed in a super ingredient in my meal makes me feel good about my effort, and that motivates me to do more!

So here’s to simple but yummy meals and a healthier life! :)



I Can Now Has Play!

Frappy is growing up fast! At 5 months-going-on-6, she no longer likes lying flat on the rocker doing nothing, while watching mommy going about having all the fun. Naturally, she (fake-) cries a lot for attention (srsly the next generation scream queen -_-); wanting to be carried around, played with, or even if it’s just sitting next to her, doing or saying nothing, she’d be happy.


So until we get her a playpen/ mattress-on-the-floor/walker/high chair/whathaveyous, I set this beautiful white crib (a gift from Dewgem! Thanks babe!) up in the living room for her to roam and nap in. And this is what I’ve got:


I is happyz!

Love Is...

when you forgive with a big heart.

My cup-of-cino. Yum :)



A Perfectly Lazy Morning

... for a perfectly lazy breakfast  :)




Sliced banana on buttered toasts, cofee, lappy. Bliss.

P/S Thanks Vicky and Essie for a great time last night! The subs and Daiso are better and fun-ner with you guys around!


Almost Edible

"Look, ma! I 'm a qualified poser now and I'm all ready to conquer the world!"

I Still Love You. Like, For Real.

Dear blog, I’m not gonna say sorry to you because I’ve abandoned you for more than a month, again. I guess the art of follow-through is really not my thing. In fact, I owe my future generation the biggest sorry because well, in a way, this is for them, you know, when they need to do a story or karangan about their (great/great/great/grand/) parents mama, at least there’s a point of reference here. I do sincerely hope the words “hot”, “witty”, “elegant”, "smart", “an all around total kick-ass” would appear in their write-up(s). But oh well!

My silly bambi has turned 5 months 6 days old today! And if you keep tab with my facebook, you’d be informed that last Sunday she did her first turn. I am, of course more than proud with her achievement. It took her a couple of days to get to the stunt, because she just couldn’t get her left arm out from under her chest; I guess the fact that she’s a little too chubby contributed to the agony. But now, she’d turn over at will, faster than you can refresh your page.

I took many videos.

Two nights ago, all three of us visited little Theodora, but baby Theo was fast asleep and the sight of a teeny tiny little bundle brought back fond memories and urges. To think that it has been only 5 months ago Frappy was that size and totally fragile; ahh, time o time, why do you fly by so quickly?

And baby Theo’s mama has engaged the confinement aunty who took care of me and Frappy to help her out. Something struck Frappy’s funny bone and she couldn’t stop laughing the minute the aunty started playing with her. All she needed to do was to just lock eyes with her, and Frappy’d go crazy laughing the roof down, it’s as if she’s reunited with her mother! It was really entertaining, to see her laughed herself out of breath.

Naturally, we took many videos, too.

When the time came to bid farewell, the aunty was so fond of Frappy that she, a so-called ex-employee, gave Frappy an ang pau. We were really touched with her generosity and the love she has for children. There’s a difference, confinement ladies/domestic helpers who work with passion and love, and people who work just because it’s their job. This one, is a keeper.

Disaster struck when we reached home. All videos and pictures taken with my much loved Nokia XpressMusic 5800 for the past 10 days were gone. No notice, no signs. Just disappeared as if they’ve never existed. I’ve looked in every nook and cranny of the phone, but they’ve gone without saying goodbye. I was, still am, devastated. But I’m now much calmer, thank you, constantly quoting Taio Cruz’ Dynamite lyrics (although I do heart Mike Tompkin’s cover version better):

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes
Saying AYO!
Gotta let go!
I wanna celebrate and live my life
Saying AYO!
Baby, let's go!

Reminding myself there’s much more than crying over lost videos, as heartbreaking as it is. Haiks.

But yeah, gotta let go.

Oh by the way, I’ve been a useful member of the household lately by bringing in my share of income. I’m tutoring a Korean guy. All I need to do is just talk to him and help him practice his English. It’s quite fun, when the students are responsive, instead of just kayu-ing there. Anyway, he just can’t get the word seafood right, he’d go cheeput all the way. This happened with my previous Korean student too. Hmm, gotta dig deeper into this phenomenon, and find ways to straighten them up, uh, in an English-speaking kinda way (hello? Laugh? Are my jokes that lame? -_-)

Ooo! And by the very way, my sister’s getting married this weekend oh yeah babay (uh, and next weekend, too. It’s a Chinese thing. Anyway!) and I’ve finally found my dress! It’s a bcbgmaxazria number and although I can get some used to the strong colours, but I do love it nonetheless – tube-topped chiffon maxi dress. Totally light-weight, totally goddessy. Argh, you have no idea how difficult it is to get a decent dress that oozes “me”. What’s with today’s boutiques??? I’m gonna straighten this problem out too, you just wait and see.

Now, should I also be wearing the same dress next month to Deepa’s wedding too? Wait. Am I invited? Erm… I don’t think I dreamt up receiving the invitation card now… it must be somewhere. Anyway, 1 dress 2 weddings?! Hmm! Decisions, decisions, decisions! Life is tough (and so is updating you)! Haiks.

Woops! Frappy’s up and uh, talking to herself! Haha! Gotta go. You stay alive ok (HAHA!)? I’ll be back with more, soon, erm, hopefully, yeah. Ok. Ta. XOXO.

Frappy The TV Junkie

-_- How la liddis?

Weebit!

Whaddayanoe! Look what I’ve found in my yard, an eerie looking creature a beautiful God’s creation.

Froggie!

I’ve seen the little fella hopping around on the patch of grass a couple of times now, I hope it’ll plan a move soon, before Braxton gets to it, that is!

KL Mini Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010 @ Artista Restaurant & Bar

Speaking of going out more, thanks to Terence’s invitation, 2 weekends ago we went for the KL Mini Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010 (what a mouthful!) at Artista Restaurant & Bar with Ju and Vincent. And boy was the music fun, even for an amateur like me!

I must say I didn’t enjoy the first 2 opening acts much, but when Terence’s band, The Terence Chong Blues Band, came on, I felt they just got everyone hooked lah. Dude, I never knew you were that good! :)

The whole gig and venue weren’t very baby friendly (too loud and cigarette smoke), so Jason had to take Frappy out for window-shopping instead (the place was located inside Tropicana City Mall). But a quick browse through the restaurant’s menu, I thought it looks quite promising. Must. return. try. food. weee! All we ordered was some brownies + vanilla ice cream (the ice cream was yum!) and a cup of latte to share, not bad at all.

We didn’t stay till the end of the gig as the next day was a work day for Jason, which was a disappointment because the music just got better. But that couple of numbers they covered already got Ju and I all pumped and excited! And Vincent said “it got crazier” after we left. Man! -_-

But all in all, it was a fantastic experience and I’m definitely looking forward for more of such outings/gigs.

For The Love Of My Sanity

Jason has bugged me forever to go get some pamering since the birth of Frappy. But somehow, being the responsible mother that I am, ahem, I kept putting things off, for fear he won't be able to cope with a young one at home. Alone. (More like I'm fearing for the young one -_-)

But then along came Despicable Me! And all responsibilities flew right out of the window! :D So I caught the movie with some friends and may I say? It was so cool! So funny! It's been too long since I laughed so hard watching a movie, wait, there was Couples Retreat (thumbs up funny!) some months back, but yeah, some months back, before Frappy came along!

I so wanna watch it again. Because it wasn't 3D AND we were seated TWO rows before the screen! Well, almost felt like 3D haha! It's all good! Love Gru! Love the minions! Love Agnes! Love the soundtrack! Love the colours! Everything! And it's not a good movie if Leishia didn't cry. The ending was so touching when Margo says I Love You to Gru! T_T

AND THEN! Half way into the movie, Jason called, panicking because Frappy wouldn't stop crying. Zzz. Well, eventually he survived the ordeal! Well done mate! Hehe! Will definitely do more of this getting out! Because one gotta love herself first before loving others (excuse only lah! I just love going out! Haha!)

Because A Girl Gotta Start Her Shoe Collection Early

Why Motherhood Rocks

Because when you see that smile, you know it's all worth it :)

This was funny because when she's done crossing her eyes, she jumped when she saw the camera was in her face, and she pursed her lips. Haha!

Man, how fast she grows! Sometimes I miss that arm-length tiny bub that she was. God's hand in her life is so real - from before she was conceived, to the day she was born, and now, moving on with every second - she is truly a blessing to not just us as the parents, but many around her.

Thank you all (you know who you are! But like Cerlyn says, if you don't, then probably it's not you! HAHAHA! Funny, you!) for showing your tremendous love for Frappy and giving us so much of support! I've said it, and I'm gonna say it again and again, the Jason clan is truly, truly, utterly, crazily, madly, totally blessed! Thank God, thank you! :)

I Love Tees That Speak My Mind

... so says Frappy. Check out this onesies! I mean, the taglines totally rock, love 'em!!! but I'm not too sure they'll rock as much (for me. Zzz) when Frappy is wearing 'em -_-

This is when my headache begins...

"uh, well, you see girl... heh..."

Thanks a buncho alythelily and jareddy (And all those who belikan Frappy toys!), you guys will be her coolest uncles and aunties! :)

Feeling Really Blue

Good morning everyone! I've been going all obssesed about electric blue lately! So, before Frappy wakes up for her bath, here's something electrifying to brighten up your (more like, my) day :) *Love those heels and pumps argh!!!*

all photos by various yummy brands taken from polyvore

Qualified, Totally!

I just cooked the most amazing tasting bowl of rice wine tomato mee sua with dried oyster and poached egg. I now declare myself a chef *smug*

Oh, by the way, “what’s Moorpark spelled backward?”


Kraproom.

(Granpa, Valentine’s Day)

HAHAHA!

Tubby Frappy

I just came to realize that Colbie Caillat’s Capri is a pregger’s theme song! I hereby dedicate this song to baby Frap and myself! =D

Thanks to infant formula, my frappy is becoming more and more chubby *swt* I mean, think about it, babies are drinking “formula” – a composition of… things, instead of plain ole, say, cow’s milk or something.

Anyway! Just me being paranoid. ~_~

Frappy’s been a good baby. She now sleeps through the night after her last feeding at around 11pm/12am, only to wake up at 5/6am for her next (without going through any cry-feed-water-force-to-sleep kinda training! Can you tell already how proud zee mama is? *happy tears*), granting her mama highness some much needed sleep! So when she’s up for her fix, you can always hear her tummy growling and see her mouth puffing like a fish outta water! Haha!

Oh and how she loves to stretch and stretch and STRETCH! Like the hands of a clock, every stretch or squirm will cause her to move (anti)clock-wise. It’s funny and (annoying!) to see how paranoid the father is about this!

I think she’s beginning to learn to smile these days, though still not apparent, but sometimes when I’m chatting with her doing funny sounds or singing to her, she’d look at me with her biggest, widest, purest eyes and then, smile for 3 whole seconds *totally melted* Ah can’t wait till she can smile and gurgle for real!